CSK batter Ajinkya Rahane has drawn criticism from former India opener Aakash Chopra after the batter had a poor outing with the bat against GT. He was included in the squad as the Impact sub and opened the innings for the defending champions. He was dismissed after scoring 1 run.

Chopra questioned Rahane’s batting and said Rahane’s wicket impacted the team’s performance

“Rahane was dismissed on the first ball of the second over. Ruturaj also departed for a duck. It was 10-3 and CSK lost the plot.”

Chopra expressed concern over Rahane’s opening spot and questioned the logic behind preferring Rahane over Sameer Rizvi.

“Nobody knows Rahane’s role in the team. Why have you been with persisting him for long? Sameer Rizvi could’ve batted for you,” Chopra opined.

The former batter also slammed CSK’s decision to send in-form CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad at no 3 since Ruturaj is ranked second in the Orange Cap standings.

“You benched Richard Gleeson. Instead of him, you played Rachin Ravindra. You made your batting stronger. You sent Rachin to open but Rahane accompanied him. The fans wondered that since Ruturaj was consistently scoring as an opener, why did he bat late? Adding to your strategy, Rachin Ravindra was out for one in the very first over,” he remarked.

While discussing CSK’s performance, Chopra gave credit to Mohit Sharma, who took three vital wickets in a short period.

In the death overs, MS Dhoni hit three sixes.

“Mohit Sharma came in like a storm and claimed three wickets in his initial three overs. He picked up wickets of Mitchell and Ali, later he dismissed Dube. After that the game was done. In the end, fan favorite Dhoni arrived and hit two one-handed sixes and a helicopter-style six,” he further commented.

CSK lost to GT by 35 runs and are fourth in the points table.

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